Small schools anticipate funding cuts

Friday

Jun 14, 2013 at 2:29 PMJun 14, 2013 at 2:41 PM

By Ami RidlingDaily News Staff Writer

SISKIYOU COUNTY – As the Legislature prepares to pass Gov. Jerry Brown’s state budget, educators in five of Siskiyou County’s small schools are anticipating a significant loss of funding, and the fate of these institutions remains unknown.

However, “We are not giving up the fight,” stated Siskiyou County Superintendent of Schools Kermith Walters.

McCloud High (which is part of the Siskiyou Union High School District) and small school districts Bogus Elementary, Delphic Elementary, Dunsmuir Joint Union High and Little Shasta Elementary could be affected by the language in a trailer bill attached to the budget, said Walters.

As with all schools, these districts (and McCloud High School) receive state funding based on student population known as ADA (Average Daily Attendance). Since they have a low student population, they are currently dependent on Necessary Small School block funding to remain operational.

The language in the trailer bill would change necessary small school block funding criteria. Schools with fewer than 100 students and located fewer than 15 miles from a neighboring school district that offers the same services may no longer be eligible for the block funding, explained Walters.

The five local schools are within 15 miles of other school districts. According to Walters, as of October 2012, Bogus had 12 students, Delphic had 33 students, Dunsmuir High had 87 students, Little Shasta had 26 students and McCloud High had eight students.

The language in the bill also removes control from the county school superintendent to grant exceptions to district requirements, if conditions exist that would impose hardships on students to attend school in a different district. The authority to grant distance exceptions would go to the California State Superintendent of Instruction.

According to Walters, the budget calls for an increase in ADA funding, though he noted it remains unclear whether this increase will offset the loss of block grant funding.

This spring, local educators became aware of the language in the trailer bill and have since been turning their wheels to make their message clear to lawmakers that these schools serve a critical need.

Walters said he has been in frequent contact with the Small School District Association, the California Office of Education and the governor’s office, and in April, he spoke before the education finance subcommittee in Sacramento in support of local small schools districts.

David Walrath, legislative advocate for the Small District Association, provided revision language for the trailer bill to the governor’s office in the hope of sparing small districts from block funding criteria changes. The suggested changes did not appear in the budget’s May revision.

“Obviously, they did not like our alternative language,” said Walrath.

While it is still possible that the wording in the bill attached to the final budget could have been changed following the May revision, “We believe that the language did not change and we are still going to have to work to protect the necessary small school funding for our districts,” Walters said.

He added that the county office of education is researching various approaches to spare local districts from devastating funding cuts, including the filing of a waiver with the state board of education to exempt these districts from meeting block funding criteria outlined in the trailer bill.

In addition, Walters noted that each of the affected districts maintains healthy reserves, and none of them is anticipating imminent closure.

“I honestly do not see these schools closing this year or next year,” said Walters. “I believe that if the state superintendent will listen to us and take our recommendation, these schools will not close.”

Walrath commented that students in rural communities must have access to quality education, and shuffling them from their communities to larger districts is often not in their best interests.

“In rural California, the public school is the community focus. If that school is closed, you take the heart out of that community,” he said.

Walrath added that research shows students (particularly elementary school-age children) are adversely affected when they have to endure lengthy bus rides. In addition, he said parent participation in schools is more challenging when their children must be shuffled further from home to attend school in a neighboring district, and parent participation is an important factor in students’ success.

Ed Stokes, McCloud High School principal, said he is anticipating loss of funding, but “right now we have to wait and see what happens. Nothing has been determined at this point.” He added, “We are not making any preparations to close the school.”

As McCloud economically recovers, Stokes explained that the high school is a vital part of the community and its survival is critical to promote the growth of the town. He noted that he believes his school would be granted a distance exception due to McCloud’s winter weather conditions, though that determination would be made at the state level under the language in the trailer bill.

Debbie Faulkner, superintendent/principal of Delphic Elementary School District, is taking a proactive approach to the anticipated funding cuts.

Delphic has been approved by the state to become a charter school, which would be called Siskiyou Charter School, if it loses its block funding. Faulkner said the district intends to apply for a start-up grant and sustain itself on reserves until the charter is established.

She explained that if Delphic becomes Siskiyou Charter School, it will provide the same level of education to its students with more emphasis on fine arts. She asserted that charter schools require fewer hoops to jump through and are more loosely regulated than public schools.

“Our test scores are the fifth highest in all of Siskiyou County and we plan to stay up there,” she commented. “We will do whatever it takes to educate our kids.”

Walters said whatever the outcome of the trailer bill language, small school district closures would have a devastating effect on Siskiyou County.

“Small schools within the community, in most cases, are the community,” he said